The Godfather
by ThePotterGeek
Summary: "I want to be there for him. I want him to have a better childhood than I did." A closer look at the beginning of the relationship between Harry and Teddy. Oneshot for now, maybe more in the future. Rated for safety.


The Godfather

"Harry, I don't think this is such a good idea."

The boy in question sighed in exasperation and walked a little faster. Hermione had never been shy about voicing her opinion. Normally, Harry admired her for this, but at the moment it was just annoying.

"You don't get it, Hermione, this is something I need to do."

"But Harry, think about what you're doing for a second! First of all, I don't think either of you is in any state to do this- you've barely woken up, and she's just lost her daughter, not to mention the fact that her husband was murdered only a few months ago! She's also probably feeling a bit useless, seeing as all she was doing when the rest of us were fighting a great battle was taking care of a baby-"

"-which is exactly why I'm going. I want to help. I want to help her, I want to help Teddy-"

"Harry, Andromeda might not _want_ your help!"

"Remus and Tonks named me godfather, I'll be damned if I _don't_ help!"

"But-"

"Hermione, leave him alone! It's his choice, and if the woman decides to hex him, you can be very pleased with yourself and tell him you told him so. But please, _shut up._"

Harry smiled at his best friend. Ron defending him was a welcome change from the past few months, where he'd always sided with Hermione, just to get back into her good graces. Now that they'd both more or less admitted their feelings for each other, things had gone back to normal.

"Fine, _Ronald_, I was just trying to keep Harry from making any rash decisions-"

"Trust me, Hermione, this isn't rash. I want to let Andromeda Tonks know that I'm going to be a good godfather. Teddy Lupin is always going to have me in his life." Harry looked at her with desperation in his eyes, and Hermione felt a pang when she realized he was thinking of Sirius.

Harry could hear the tears in her voice as she asked, "Can we at least come with you?"

Harry stopped walking. They were far enough away from Hogwarts for him to Disapparate. He faced her.

"I think it'll be better if I do this myself. If she doesn't like me being there, she'll like it even less if I've brought company."

"He's right, you know." Harry sent another grateful look in Ron's direction.

To both boys' horror, the tears spilled from Hermione's eyes. She threw her arms around him, and he awkwardly patted her on the back.

"I don't think I'll ever really get used to that."

She laughed weakly, sniffing. "I'm sorry. I just… I know I don't have to worry about you dying anymore. But I still worry. Does that make sense?"

Harry's face felt almost strained as he grinned. It had been so long since he'd even smiled. "None at all."

He then turned on the spot and vanished.

When he was able to see and breathe again, he looked around, remembering. The grass and garden around the house had regrown since a gigantic motorcycle had crashed here. Nothing was there to remind those that passed what had occurred last July.

Taking a deep breath, he strode towards the front door, which opened just as he was raising his hand to knock.

Andromeda Tonks stood there, holding a baby whose hair was now his mother's favorite shade of bubble gum pink. Harry suddenly found himself trying to swallow around a lump in his throat.

"I heard you Apparate," she said. After a short but awkward silence, she asked, "Would you like to come in?" she said finally.

Harry nodded and followed her inside to the sitting room, where they sat facing each other. Unable to bear the silence, Harry spoke.

"I'm so, so sorry."

Her eyes examined his face with such intensity that he thought of the Dumbledore brothers. Then she smiled. Barely, but it was there. "Thank you. You know what it feels like."

"Like they were all my own family."

There was another small silence, but this one wasn't uncomfortable. Andromeda stood, placed the baby down, and stared at a picture of a young girl on the mantlepice. "Ever since Dora was a little girl, she wanted to be an Auror. Did she ever tell you?" Harry shook his head. "She was extremely young during the first war, but she knew about the Order, because Ted and I were so involved. The night he disappeared, we were all so relived that the pain and fear were over. But she, bless her heart, reminded the two of us what still needed to be done. Death Eaters sill needed to be rounded up, and she even talked as if You-Kno- excuse me, Voldemort- was coming back, an opinion voiced by Albus Dumbledore in later years, though only to a precious few. It was then that she told us her ambition. We wanted a safer life for our only child, but we weren't going to stand in her way." Andromeda smiled, lost in memory.

"When he came back, all she could talk of was bringing him down. She joined the newly-formed Order before we could blink."

The woman turned back to face him, tears shining in her eyes. "She didn't fight because of you. You may be the Chosen One, but that's no need to get a big head. That war may have started out as a way to allow you to search the castle, but it was a fight for freedom, and she had every right to fight for it, and die for it. So did everybody else." After a deep breath, she added, "I've come to terms with it, and it's high time you did, too."

Harry was silent again. Andromeda was quiet for a few moments, then decided that he'd done enough thinking. "I'm assuming you're here about the baby."

He wasn't about to beat around the bush. "Yeah."

"I'm not about to give up my only family, Mr. Potter."

"I would never take Teddy away from anyone who loves him. That happened to me, and I'm not thanking anyone for it. I just know what it's like to grow up without parents. I want to be there for him. I want him to have a better childhood than I did. But believe me, I know nothing about being a parent, or even a role model, really. I don't want to take that from you. Not if you don't want me to."

Andromeda smiled at him again. "I think you know a thing or two about being a role model, Harry Potter, whether you want to admit it to yourself or not. Your character and your valiance have shaped this war and the way people on our side fought it." She reached down and gently lifted Teddy. "If this baby could grow up to be at all like you, he would do his parents proud."

She held him out and Harry took him, holding him slightly awkwardly as he realized he'd never been around a baby before. Despite himself, a grin grew on Harry's face, getting even larger when the little boy smiled back.

**This is a oneshot that I wrote and then promptly forgot about. Recently I've been moving things from my home computer onto my new laptop, and I rediscovered it, messed with it a little, and am sending it out into the world, ready to breathe on its own. I really like the idea of the relationship between Teddy and Harry, and if I get more inspiration, I may add to this story. It won't be plot driven, most likely, just a bunch of onesies as I think of them.**

**Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!**


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